"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross."
-- Sinclair Lewis

Thursday, April 28, 2016

Boehner: #NeverCruz

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I've always found that establishment politicians are much more relaxed when they're being interviewed outside the strictures and confines of the Beltway and that it makes the interviews more likely to produce something worthwhile and unexpected. Wednesday evening John Boehner was the guest speaker at Stanford University, far from DC and far from Ohio and he was interviewed by a history professor, David Kennedy, rather than a jackel journalist. His responses were far more interesting than anything you'd expect to hear from him on the useless Sunday morning gab-fests.He called Bernie "a nice guy and the most honest politician in the race" and fell right into the trap Republicans build themselves to alienate women voters. Impersonating Hillary, the former Speaker said "Oh I’m a woman, vote for me." This was early in the evening and the audience started boo-ing him. He babbled some Fox New nonsense about how "the e-mails" could change everything about the race. "Don’t be shocked" he confided, cluelessly, "if two weeks before the convention, here comes Joe Biden parachuting in and Barack Obama fanning the flames to make it all happen." Anyone who doesn't spend the day watching Fox News or listening to Hate Talk Radio must have felt Boehner was drunk again. But he got even more entertaining once he started talking about something he knows more about: Republicans. He kept referring to the members of the GOP's Freedom Caucus as "knuckleheads" and "goofballs."

Much of the discussion-- and laughs-- focused on Boehner’s views on the current presidential candidates. Segueing into the topic, Kennedy asked Boehner to be frank given that the event was not being broadcasted, and the former Speaker responded in kind. When specifically asked his opinions on Ted Cruz, Boehner made a face, drawing laughter from the crowd.“Lucifer in the flesh,” the former speaker said. “I have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life.”Boehner described other Republican candidates as friends. In particular, the former speaker said he has played golf with Donald Trump for years and that they were “texting buddies.”His friendship with Ohio Governor John Kasich, however, was a little more ambiguous.“[Kasich] requires more effort on my behalf than all my other friends … but he’s still my friend, and I love him,” Boehner said.Boehner for the most part accepted Trump as the presumptive Republican nominee, though he did express his surprise at the candidate’s success. While he did not praise Trump’s policies, the Speaker did say he would vote for Trump in the general election if he becomes the Republican nominee. The former Speaker said he would not, however, vote for Cruz.

Not yet she hasn't 'earned her shot at the office,' and that sense of 'it's my turn,' and not just with Clinton, has been dragging the Democratic Party down for years. Whose turn it is should be left to the voters and the Party machine shouldn't be putting its thumb on the scale. It's the turn of the best candidate, period.

Not saying Republicans don't do it too, although usually less often for open seats. Bob Dole is a good example. They knew they weren't going to win against the incumbent, so they threw the old warhorse a bone. Mitt maybe less so, but they really didn't have anyone else, and, again, not an open seat. I'm thinking of examples like Harris Miller v. Jim Webb in Virginia in 2006 running for a winnable open seat, where everyone knew Miller was a weak candidate but the Party apparat pushed Miller because it was "his turn" and said so. If Miller hadn't been defeated by Webb, he surely would have been defeated by Macaca Allen. Virginia voters bailed us out of that one with a tremendous campaign, despite party efforts. But Hillary is a better recent example. Biden, a loyal old warhorse if there ever was one, et al just backed away for 2016 and tried to make Clinton inevitable, even though she had already had her shot at the office in 2008, is not a very good candidate (she admits to not being "a natural") however she may be as an officeholder, and has vulnerabilities the size of the side of a barn. And the Party has certainly put their thumb on the scale for her.